State Auditor Shad White issued the following press release.
A new report released today by State Auditor Shad White shows Mississippi taxpayers will see an additional $700 million of current and future spending obligations as a result of fatherlessness.
“Mississippians know that engaged fathers are critical for the well-being of children,” said Auditor White. “The added discipline and income that comes from two committed parents is important for everyone to understand. But it’s particularly important for taxpayers to understand, because they often bear the cost of broken homes.”
Today’s report is the result of combining expert research with data from Mississippi. This research concluded taxpayers pay a price when fathers abandon their children. For example, the report shows:
· Fatherless children are less likely to obtain a high school degree. Taxpayers will likely lose $560 million due to the fatherless children who dropped out of school during the 2021-2022 school year alone.
· Fatherless boys are more likely to go to prison than boys who have present fathers. Taxpayers in Mississippi likely pay $180 million each year to imprison fatherless male prisoners.
· Fatherless girls are more likely to be teen mothers than girls with involved fathers. Taxpayers likely spent over $50 million on costs like increased foster care as a result of fatherless teen mothers in 2019 alone.
“I have single mothers in my own family, and they worked tirelessly to raise their children. This report doesn’t take away from their herculean efforts,” White said. “But men—and taxpayers—in Mississippi need to see the sad results when dads do not show up for their kids.”
Fatherlessness is a cyclical issue faced by families and taxpayers across the country. Other states around the country have taken notice. Earlier this year, for example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed bipartisan legislation meant to address fatherlessness and provide men with parenting resources.
In Mississippi, the Office of the State Auditor identified the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) as a program helping interrupt the cycle of fatherlessness in an August 2020 report. The program teaches high school students military history and provides structure, discipline, and physical exercise for its enrollees. In Jackson Public Schools, nearly 100% of JROTC students obtain a high school diploma despite a 75% district-wide graduation rate.
45 comments:
Like fatherlessness, this report wastes taxpayers’ money. Thanks Captain Obvious Shad.
Total deflection. Shad’s going down with Phil on the SS Whistleblower.
So now Shad is trying to link his name to DeSantis in FL. This guy is a leech.
He was doing so well catching fraud, why publish a manifesto stating the sky is blue? What a waste of resources that reek of politics.
The truth hurts, as it should.
Thank you Shad, and amen. Another statistic to consider from the Brookings Institution: people who graduate from high school, get a full time job (even at minimum wage), and wait until they are married to have children have less than a 5% chance of being in poverty. This is low hanging fruit.
Thanks, but research like this should be done by a think tank and not the State Auditor.
Sad but true, this is a majority of what is wrong in this country and especially Jackson.
Well,I wonder who is to blame for laws and legal judgements that have weakened laws that once held mothers in higher regard?
I'm surprised Shad overlooked father's seemed not to specifically mentioned that many of those "fatherless" homes had fathers who were legally married by either common law or church and state law.
No doubt it's a political appeasement to the notion that all fatherless households are headed by unmarried women!
Would Shad like to challenge Roger Wicker in 2024? I will be the first to donate!
Maybe our elected officials’ promotion of forced pregnancy and birth have something to do with the high incidence of “fatherless” children in Mississippi and the ensuing costs to taxpayers of supporting these children.
does the state really need to do a ''report'' or a study on this issue?
if people dont already know this maybe they should do a report concluding that it gets hot in the summertime
Shad need to stay in his lane.
Maybe his next report will announce that rain causes flooding and spending time outside causes swampy huevos. Please stick to identifying town clerks with sticky fingers and not making groundbreaking reports on social ills for political gains.
Our wonderful federal government created this in the 1960s with all of the vote buying social programs they created.
And he gets paid to tell us this? Water is wet is next.
The facts are useless to the Democrat/progressive power structure at work in our national government and urban areas. They view fatherlessness as a inevitable RESULT NOT A CAUSE of anything. Therefore their attack is always on the realities of life itself which never go away, giving them lifetime jobs leading the victims. No end in sight.
Are you shittin' Shad? And your next report will reveal that poverty contributes to the crime rate. How about offering legitimate, realistic solutions?? Crickets........
I was told systemic racism is the reason the yutes are incapable of being productive members of society and the media does not not lie.
Is it legal to use state resources to publish a research report that serves no purpose except to appeal to one's voter base?
How much time and money did this report cost? How is this different than using taxpayer money to run DHS banner ads at Vaught Hemingway? Could not these funds have been used for healthcare or roads?
I remember
Ber how the media went on a major offensive against Dan Quayle when he said something similar. It’s obvious he was right. So why does the political left fight against this truth? Do they not care about people? Of course not.
"Fatherless children are less likely to obtain a high school degree."
Nobody obtains a high school degree. They get high school diplomas and college/university degrees.
"Fatherless girls are more likely to be teen mothers than girls with involved fathers."
And what about fatherless boys becoming parents??
i do not have anything against the Auditor, but maybe stay in your lane by tracking down fraud and financial misdeeds instead of researching social issues. This appears to be a campaign ploy. This is the kind of stuff Lynn Fitch would pull to get her name out there.
I think I'm starting to see why Phil took a liking to this Shadrack pup!
It looks like a major part of the Florida law is a pr campaign by local celebrities. I’m guessing Shad and Phil need to find a way to steer more welfare money to Favre and the wrestlers to get back in their good graces.
Maybe Anna Wolfe should submit a public records request -- or you, Kingfish -- to determine how much time and money was wasted by staff at the State Auditor's Office reporting on the equivalent of "cerulean is the color of the sky."
Report is six pages. Five pages of things we already know and one page of kissing DeSantis's butt and plugging JROTC.
If you folks knew fatherlessness costs taxpayers $700 million every year, I need y'all on my trivia team. Y'all just HAVE to have something to complain about.
The first rule of politics is to keep your name in front of the voters. Since all of us are talking about him, I suppose he achieved his goal in writing this brilliant treatise.
"Fatherless" child is a poor description and lets the deadbeat off too easily. Contrary to what the left preaches, there is always a father, at least initially.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan studied this issue 60 years ago, and the situation is exponentially worse today. Don't know why Mr. White is wasting time on this, except for publicity.
Politics 101: Own the obvious, become it's champion...before your opponent.
Good move Shad.
It's going to get worse. This report will help quantify the negative aspects of the Supreme Court decision. The New Testament promotes family. That's why abortion is never condemned in the Bible.
Shad’s office is a joke. An unfunny one
All of the commenters on this thread that are bashing Shad for his report on the negative effects of fatherless homes have probably abandoned their kids in some form or fashion. The dude has done a fantastic job catching fraud in this state. If he wants to do a report on fatherless homes (that, by the way, Jackson and the state of MS desperately need to hear) then so be it! It clearly ruffled some feathers, which is good.
@8:49pm - Thanks for stopping by Shad’s PR team.
Good for Shad, but the solutions are weak. Pass legislation to make the "sperm donors" pay for the kids that they help produce.
@8:49 so do you just totally excuse what appears to be Shad’s attempt to cover up for Phil Bryant?
Like fiddling around with the myth of 'brain drain' and other sociology ramblings, this is not the job of a State Auditor. He's no longer dealing with 'low hanging fruit'. He's resorted to picking up that which has fallen to the ground.
"No doubt it's a political appeasement to the notion that all fatherless households are headed by unmarried women!"
In case you're still reading the blog, can you suggest alternatives to that notion?
It’s interesting that Phil supports the Mercy house foundation and all Shad has to talk about is data on fatherless kids and homes.
10:21.. I am sincerely asking because I haven’t seen it. Where is the hard evidence that Phil is actually guilty of a crime?
I’m curious how many people commenting on this thread are Jacksonites that have bailed on their kids. LOSERS
10:10 - Let me take a stab at answering your question. None.
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